Written Answers Monday 25 August 2008

Scottish Executive

Access for Disabled People

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people in East Ayrshire have had applications for renewal of the Blue Badge parking permit refused since the introduction of new guidelines.

Stewart Stevenson: This is a matter for East Ayrshire Council. The information requested is not held centrally.

Access for Disabled People

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people in South Ayrshire have had applications for renewal of the Blue Badge parking permit refused since the introduction of new guidelines.

Stewart Stevenson: This is a matter for South Ayrshire Council. The information requested is not held centrally.

Building Standards

John Lamont (Roxburgh and Berwickshire) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to change building regulations to improve energy conservation in new houses.

Stewart Stevenson: A building standards advisory committee working party is presently reviewing the energy standards in building regulations. The intention is to consult on any proposed changes in 2009, with a view to introducing revisions in 2010.

Concessionary Travel

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what estimate has been made of the cost of maintaining free travel for elderly and disabled people on the current age, time and geographic bases for the current and next three financial years and what budgetary provision has been made for each of these years.

Stewart Stevenson: The budgetary provision for concessionary fares for the next three years is £181.4 million in 2008-09, £187.4 million in 2009-10 and £189.4 million in 2010-11. This budget provides support for the development and delivery of concessionary travel schemes for older, disabled and young people. It covers reimbursement to bus, ferry and rail operators participating in the schemes and the marketing and survey costs of running the schemes. The vast majority, almost 99%, of the budget is for bus operators participating in the Scotland-wide free bus travel scheme for older and disabled people.

  The 2008-09 estimates are subject to an agreed cost escalator. Negotiations are underway with the Confederation of Passenger Transport to reach this agreement which is necessary to establish the estimate for 2008-09. The estimates for 2009-10 onwards are subject to the outcome of the three year review of the scheme, which is also currently underway.

Emergency Services

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the outcome was of discussions between representatives of the emergency services boards and cabinet secretaries at the end of July 2008 on implementation of recent changes to the police and fire and rescue services pensions.

Kenny MacAskill: John Swinney and I met with representatives of COSLA, ACPOS and the Scottish Police Authorities Conveners Forum on 31 July. The main outcome was agreement that the Scottish Government should continue to press its case with the Treasury for additional funding to cover the costs of increased commutation factors. We also agreed that talks should continue at official level to ensure progress is made. We remain convinced that there should be parity of treatment by the Treasury with that afforded to England and Wales.

Enterprise

Liam McArthur (Orkney) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of the practicalities of setting targets for small and medium-sized enterprises to win public sector business.

John Swinney: We are currently assessing the practicality of setting a target for the percentage of expenditure by the public sector in Scotland with small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

  We are continuing to develop the Scottish Procurement Information Hub, which provides detailed expenditure and supplier data from a significant number of high-spending public sector organisations in Scotland. Further development of the information hub will allow us to monitor the percentage of expenditure with medium, small and micro businesses and also to monitor average spending trends with SMEs in different sectors.

  Data from the information hub shows that in the financial year 2005-06 (the most recent data available), just over 50% of public expenditure was with SMEs.

Health

Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether users of domiciliary oxygen therapy services (DOTS) and Community Pharmacy Scotland were consulted as part of the review of DOTS and, if so, how.

Shona Robison: Patients and community pharmacies were invited to participate in a survey carried out by the previous administration in 2006 and designed to gather their views on the domiciliary oxygen therapy service (DOTS). The representative body, Community Pharmacy Scotland, was not directly involved but many of their members responded to the community pharmacy survey. A total of 820 patients and 164 community pharmacies responded to the surveys.

  I have agreed to a second phase of the DOTS review to consider the impact of recent developments. The second phase will comprise commissioned research and the establishment of a review group to consider all of the issues. The review group will directly involve Community Pharmacy Scotland.

Health

Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any HEAT targets or similar monitoring arrangements for implementation of the national eHealth information management and technology strategy.

Nicola Sturgeon: The eHealth Programme currently has two HEAT Targets:

  E1 - Universal utilisation of the Community Health Index (CHI) number; and

  E7 - To increase the percentage of new GP outpatient referrals into consultant led secondary care services that are triaged online for clinical priority and appropriate recipient service to 90% from December 2010.

  Monitoring arrangements are in place. On eReferral NHS boards are required to produce local delivery plan trajectories on an annual basis as part of the HEAT process. This includes providing a trajectory for the percentage of referrals triaged electronically, against which performance is monitored monthly.

  NHS boards are required to provide monthly performance monitoring information on their use of the CHI number on clinical communications. Performance is monitored against targets on a monthly basis, and additional support is provided to boards where that is required.

Hospital-Acquired Infection

Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance has been issued to NHS boards on the management of laundry in hospitals where Clostridium difficile has been detected.

Nicola Sturgeon: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-11402 on 14 April 2008. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

  http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Hospital-Acquired Infection

Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, following two reports published on 7 August 2008, why all isolates of Clostridium difficile are not classified into types.

Nicola Sturgeon: Most diagnoses are made by standard local laboratory testing for Clostridium difficile toxins, not culture/isolation of the organism. The latter is required for typing, which is carried out at the Scottish Reference Laboratory. The Reference Laboratory has specific guidance setting out the criteria for when to culture and submit specimens for typing which cover those situations where typing can contribute to the management and investigation of cases. Presently, there are insufficient numbers of typed isolates to allow any kind of meaningful national analysis.

Hospital-Acquired Infection

Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps are being taken to ascertain why the rate of deaths at Vale of Leven Hospital between December 2007 and June 2008 was higher than normal.

Nicola Sturgeon: Health Protection Scotland (HPS) is taking forward an epidemiological study with NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde to better understand why the data on deaths due to Clostridium difficile at the Vale of Leven Hospital appeared to show unusual limits.

  This study is one of a number of actions that appear in our National Action Plan, in response to the recommendations arising from the publication of the HPS Report on Review of Clostridium difficile Associated Disease Cases and Mortality in all Acute Hospitals in Scotland from December 2007 - May 2008 and the Independent Review Report on the Clostridium difficile Outbreaks at Vale of Leven Hospital. The National Action Plan is available from the HAI Task Force website at:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Health/NHS-Scotland/19529/2005/actionplans.

Hospital-Acquired Infection

Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, following the two reports on Clostridium difficile published on 7 August 2008, whether it will examine the feasibility of a linkage of outcomes to cases, as is now reported as being in place at the Vale of Leven Hospital, being put in place across Scotland and when it will report to the Parliament on this matter.

Nicola Sturgeon: I refer the member to the Policies and Procedures section of our new National Action Plan and the action that will be taken forward by Health Protection Scotland and NHS Boards to develop a Clostridium difficile Root Cause Analysis tool by November 2008 which will be used by boards to investigate adverse outcomes including death. The National Action Plan is available from the HAI Task Force website at:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Health/NHS-Scotland/19529/2005/actionplans.

  I will keep the Parliament informed of progress of all aspects of the Action Plan as and when required.

Hospital-Acquired Infection

Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, following the two reports on Clostridium difficile published on 7 August 2008, what steps it is taking to ensure that (a) guidance on antibiotic policy is put in place and properly audited across Scotland and (b) the voluntary system of use of the Health Protection Scotland guidance in the bundle for tackling cross-transmission of Clostridium difficile is made mandatory or a similar bundle is implemented in each NHS board.

Nicola Sturgeon: On a) the Scottish Management of Antimicrobial Resistance Action Plan (ScotMARAP) launched by me in March outlines the national programme for Scotland in tackling antimicrobial resistance and prudent prescribing over the next five years. This was followed by CEL(30) 2008 on 8 July 2008, which sought the immediate implementation of our national policies in this area and set out the funding of £40,000 for each mainland NHS board and £20,000 for Island Boards for 2009-10 and 2010-11, with pro-rata funding for 2008-2009.

  The Scottish Antimicrobial Prescribing Group (SAPG) will monitor progress by overseeing national surveillance of resistance and antibiotic use, and driving improvements in prescribing practice. An array of supporting materials for the prevention and control of both Clostridium difficile and antimicrobial resistance are available on the Health Protection Scotland website:

  http://www.hps.scot.nhs.uk/haiic/index.aspx

  On (b) we are discussing how best to implement the care bundle with the Scottish Patient Safety Alliance and Health Protection Scotland. This is a key feature of our National Action Plan which can be viewed at:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Health/NHS-Scotland/19529/2005/actionplans

Housing

Patricia Ferguson (Glasgow Maryhill) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it still plans to introduce home reports, including single surveys, on 1 December 2008.

Stewart Maxwell: Yes, the home report will be introduced to the Scottish housing market on 1 December 2008.

Housing

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many cases of failure to complete legally binding house sales have occurred in the last year and whether it intends to discuss this issue with the Law Society of Scotland.

Stewart Maxwell: Information on the number of failures to complete legally binding house sales in Scotland is not held centrally.

  We have no plans to discuss this specific issue with the Law Society of Scotland but officials meet regularly with representatives of the Law Society to discuss a wide range of issues.

International Development

Malcolm Chisholm (Edinburgh North and Leith) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has agreed a date for the next meeting of the Scotland Malawi Joint Commission.

Linda Fabiani: The Scotland Malawi Joint Commission Review took place at official level on 2 August 2008 in Malawi. A date for the next meeting has not been confirmed yet.

International Development

Malcolm Chisholm (Edinburgh North and Leith) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive which of the priorities highlighted by the Government of Malawi in its Malawi Growth and Development Strategy and in other relevant development documents it has chosen to focus on in its Malawi Development Programme and on what basis.

Linda Fabiani: As stated in the policy guidance published on 26 June 2008, the Malawi Development Programme is focusing on the cross-cutting themes of vocational education and training, gender issues and equality, enterprise development and strengthening the context for enhanced human rights and civil society development. These reflect the priorities of the Malawi Growth and Development Strategy and other sectoral priorities.

  Applicants to the Malawi Development Programme must provide clear evidence of how their proposals reflect the cross-cutting themes in relation to the priorities of the Government of Malawi and relevant policy initiatives in Malawi.

Justice

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many drivers were charged with driving without (a) valid or (b) any insurance in each year since 2002, broken down by police force area.

Kenny MacAskill: The recorded crime data held centrally has the number of crimes recorded by the police and the number recorded as detected, that is, there is sufficient evidence to justify consideration of criminal proceedings. We cannot provide any information on the number of people involved in crimes, since it is possible that individuals may be responsible for more than one of the crimes recorded. The available information is shown in the following table.

  Number of Offences Relating to Motor Vehicles for Failure to Insure against Third Party Risks and Insure against Third Party Risks, Other Offences, Detected by Police Forces in Scotland, 2002-03 to 2006-07.

  

 Police Force Area
 2002-03
 2003-04
 2004-05
 2005-06
 2006-07


 Central
 1,814
 1,399
 1,153
 1,254
 1,202


 Dumfries and Galloway
 956
 795
 856
 924
 1,008


 Fife
 2,501
 2,558
 2,290
 1,875
 1,856


 Grampian
 3,019
 2,480
 2,013
 2,122
 2,172


 Lothian and Borders
 4,525
 4,843
 3,980
 4,164
 4,459


 Northern
 1,212
 1,247
 1,049
 989
 1,160


 Strathclyde
 13,014
 12,953
 10,654
 10,689
 10,440


 Tayside
 2,997
 3,436
 2,607
 2,487
 2,297


 Scotland
 30,038
 29,711
 24,602
 24,504
 24,594

Land

David McLetchie (Edinburgh Pentlands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will publish the rules governing the operation of the public sector land trawl.

John Swinney: The rules governing the operation of the public sector land trawl are to be found in the Scottish Public Finance Manual Guidelines on the Disposal of Tangible Fixed Assets. The guidance on the trawl mechanism is found in paragraph 14 and the Annex, particularly paragraph 7 of the Annex. The Scottish Public Finance Manual Guidelines are on the Scottish Government website and can be found at:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Government/Finance/spfm/disposalassets#a1.

National Health Service

Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list all (a) disused hospitals and medical premises owned by the NHS and (b) sold, but not demolished, hospitals and medical premises.

Nicola Sturgeon: The following table provides an overview of those hospital and medical facilities which are no longer required for operational purposes but which remain in the ownership of Scottish Ministers.

  Surplus properties currently remaining in NHSScotland ownership

  

 NHS Board
 Disused hospital and medical centres owned by the NHS
 Date Closed, Sold or date of expected sale


NHSNational ServicesScotland
Protein Fractionation Centre, Ellen’s Glen Road, Edinburgh 
 A small part of site remains operational but the major production facility being on site is being decommissioned – there are no plans to sell the vacated part in short term.


 NHS Borders
 Sister Margaret Cottage Hospital, Jedburgh
Closed October 2006 Currently being marketed


 
Princes Street Clinic,Hawick
Closed 2006 


 NHS Dumfries & Galloway
 Garrick Hospital, Stranraer
 Missives due to conclude: 2008-09


 
 Ladyfield East, Glencaple Road, Dumfries
 Property to be marketed: 2008-09


 
Ladyfield WestGlencaple RoadDumfries
 Property to be marketed: 2008-09


 NHS Forth Valley
 Airth Clinic
 


 
2 Clinics, Callendar 
 


 NHS Grampian
 Cove Clinic, Aberdeen
Closed 2007Expected sale date: March 2009 


 
 Upper & Lower Hospitals, Royal Cornhill Hospital, Aberdeen
 Closed March 2004


 NHS Tayside
 Irvine Memorial Hospital, Pitlochry
Closed  2008Expected sale date 2009-2010 


 
 Armitstead Children’s Development Centre, Dundee
Closed 2008Expected sale date 2009-2010


 NHS Lothian
 Broxburn Health Centre, Broxburn
Closed 2002. Expected sale date: 2009


 
Bangour Village Hospital, West Lothian
Closed 2004


 NHS Lanarkshire
 Law Hospital
Closed 2001.Expected sale date: 2009


 
 Alexander Hospital - one building only remains on site
Closed: March 2006, Expected sale date: 2008


 NHS Fife
 Alison Street Clinic, Kirkcaldy
Closed 2004. Expected sale date: 2008



  It is not possible to provide details of properties which have been sold but not demolished as health boards have no operational responsibility for such premises once a sale has been completed.

National Health Service

Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has instructed NHS boards to conduct an inspection of all extant disused hospitals or medical premises in their areas to ensure that no medical records have been left in these premises and, if so, when this instruction was issued, when it will be carried out and whether it will report the results to the Parliament.

Nicola Sturgeon: The Scottish Government wrote to all NHS boards on the 15 July 2008. All boards with disused hospital premises were asked to carry out a physical inspection to ensure that no patient identifiable information is present. All boards have been asked to confirm when this has been completed. The outcome of these checks will be reported to the Parliament. To date responses have been received from 19 out of 22 territorial and special health boards. All territorial boards operating hospitals have responded to indicate that checks have been completed and no patient identifiable data was present. Responses from three special health boards are awaited to indicate whether they have such premises and the outcome of any checks.

National Health Service

Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether NHS board control of infection committees have carried out a walk-through audit of each hospital for which they are responsible and whether the results of such audits will be made public.

Nicola Sturgeon: Infection Control Committees report to the board through a Governance framework. All NHS board meetings are open to the public. The Governance section of our new National Action Plan sets out our plans for introducing a standard reporting template in January 2009 and all NHS boards will be required to follow it. The new National Action Plan can be viewed at:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Health/NHS-Scotland/19529/2005/actionplans.

Procurement

Liam McArthur (Orkney) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of the role of public procurement in helping to stimulate business innovation.

John Swinney: The Scottish Government recognises the key role that public procurement has in encouraging innovation in business, leading to increased productivity and competitiveness and thereby contributing to sustainable economic growth.

  We want to ensure that all public sector procurement activity reflects a growing understanding of market capacity and capabilities and that, where appropriate, requirements are specified in terms which encourage businesses to put forward innovative solutions to meet public sector requirements.

Procurement

Liam McArthur (Orkney) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to use procurement in the public sector to leverage innovation and skills development in the private sector.

John Swinney: A number of initiatives under the public procurement reform programme impact on innovation and skills development in the private sector.

  To enable businesses to gain a better understanding of public sector markets and contracts, we have recently launched a national advertising portal at: http://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/.

  Businesses will be able to access the portal free of charge and to use it to identify opportunities for proposing innovative solutions to meet public sector requirements.

  We have developed a procurement competency framework which identifies the skills and competency levels required by purchasers across the public sector in Scotland. The framework recognises that in order to stimulate innovation, purchasers need to fully understand the market and to express their requirement in terms which allow businesses to propose innovative solutions.

  The development of user intelligence groups by the procurement centres of expertise will promote sharing of knowledge between Scottish contracting authorities and a better understanding of the market and what it can offer.

Procurement

Liam McArthur (Orkney) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will introduce innovation procurement plans to improve innovation capability across government and the sharing of best practice.

John Swinney: We are aware of the proposed content of the innovation procurement plans for UK Government departments which are currently under development by the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills.

  We will shortly be publishing a Scottish Procurement Policy Handbook which will set out the fundamental rules, behaviours and standards applicable to public procurement activity in Scotland. The handbook will require all Scottish contracting authorities to consider how they can procure innovative solutions to their requirements. Compliance with the principles in the policy handbook will be mandatory and will be measured and reported on during contracting authorities’ audits.

Procurement

Liam McArthur (Orkney) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will publish guidance for public procurers on how best to use procurement to drive innovation.

John Swinney: The Scottish Procurement Policy Handbook , which will be published shortly, will recommend that purchasers test the market to determine what solutions are currently or potentially available prior to advertising a contract. It will advise purchasers to take advantage of the more flexible procedures permitted by EU procurement law. It will also provide guidance on the preparation of specifications which are expressed in terms of outputs or outcomes and performance. By describing what is to be achieved rather than specifying how it should be done, the scope for businesses to propose innovative solutions can be maximised.

  Purchasers can also access guidance on market engagement and developing output or outcome specifications through the Scottish public procurement toolkit at:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Government/Procurement/Resources/SPDToolkit.

Public Inquiries

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether ministers have the power to call for a public inquiry.

Kenny MacAskill: There are different types of public inquiry, but under the Inquiries Act 2005 a Minister (including the Scottish Ministers) may cause an inquiry to be held where it appears that (a) particular events have caused, or are capable of causing, public concern, or (b) there is public concern that particular events may have occurred.

  Ministers therefore have the power to instigate inquiries themselves, rather than simply calling for them to be held. The Scottish Ministers can do so if the subject-matter is concerned wholly or primarily with a matter that relates to Scotland and is not a reserved matter within the meaning of the Scotland Act 1998.

Public Private Partnerships

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to offer the equivalent of "level playing field support" for any NPD PPP projects.

John Swinney: "Level playing field support" was replaced in Scotland by "revenue support" in 2002. The previous administration left no plans or funds in support of any new revenue support for local authority PPP projects. The new government even found that there was £65 million in revenue support that the previous administration had not identified for PPP projects.

  Local authorities received the largest ever settlement in 2007 which has allowed them to invest some £1 billion into new schools projects, in addition to the ongoing revenue support for the schools NPD projects procured under the "schools PPP programme". It is for local authorities to select the form of delivery and funding which offers the optimum value for money solution over the life of the procured asset and services.

Rail Network

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has considered the findings of The people’s rail: a mutually run, publicly accountable Network Rail and, if so, what action it has taken as a result.

Stewart Stevenson: Scottish ministers only have power over the Scotrail franchise.

Rail Network

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what rail improvements will be carried out on the Inverness to Edinburgh route and what the timetable is for these improvements.

Stewart Stevenson: To improve journey times and increase frequency of services from the central belt to Inverness will require a combination of infrastructure works, procurement of additional rolling stock and timetable changes. Feasibility work is currently underway and this will determine the timetable for the work. It is estimated that the project could be implemented by 2011-12.

Rail Network

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive when the journey time for rail commuters from Inverness to Edinburgh will be reduced by 35 minutes.

Stewart Stevenson: It is estimated that this project could be implemented by 2011-2012. Atkins has recently been commissioned by Network Rail to develop a feasibility study to take this project forward.

  The study will validate the assumptions in the Room for Growth report, which will provide better cost certainty and clearer information on the timescales for implementation.

Road Accidents

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many road traffic accidents have involved uninsured drivers in each year since 2002, broken down by police force area.

Kenny MacAskill: Information on the number of road traffic accidents that have involved uninsured drivers is not held centrally. However information on the number of injury road accidents is available via the following National Statistics publication, Road Accidents Scotland 2006 , a copy which has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 44153).

School Transport

Elizabeth Smith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many school buses are fitted with seatbelts, broken down by local authority area.

Stewart Stevenson: The Scottish Government does not hold this information.

Scottish Enterprise

Margaret Mitchell (Central Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many staff were employed by Scottish Enterprise in each year since 2003-04.

Jim Mather: This is an operational matter for Scottish Enterprise. I will ask its Chief Executive to write to you in this regard.

Scottish Government Staff

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many full-time staff in each of its departments and agencies are over the age of (a) 60, (b) 65 and (c) 70.

John Swinney: As at 1 August 2008, the number of full time employees aged 60 or over in the Scottish Government, broken down into the groups of directorates that report to the Permanent Secretary and each Director General respectively, and agencies was as follows:

  

 Business Unit
 Age
 


 
 60-64
 65-69
 70+
 Total


 DG Economy
 17
 
 
 17


 DG Education
 8
 
 
 8


 DG Environment
 36
 
 
 36


 DG Health
 10
 
 
 10


 DG Justice
 16
 1
 
 17


 Permanent Secretary
 48
 2
 1
 51


 Accountants In Bankruptcy
 2
 
 
 2


 Fisheries Research Service
 15
 
 
 15


 General Registers Of Scotland
 14
 
 
 14


 HM Inspectors of Prisons
 1
 
 
 1


 HM Inspectorate of Education
 8
 
 
 8


 National Archives of Scotland
 10
 1
 
 11


 Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator
 1
 
 
 1


 Student Awards Agency for Scotland
 3
 
 
 3


 Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency
 10
 
 
 10


 Scottish Public Pensions Agency
 8
 1
 
 9


 Social Work Inspectorate Agency
 2
 1
 
 3


 Transport Scotland
 9
 
 
 9


 Total
 218
 6
 1
 225

Scottish Government Travel

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the First Minister has travelled to an official engagement by train and, if so, when and where.

John Swinney: The First Minister has travelled by rail on two separate occasions, details of which are as follows:

  3 April 2008 - Washington (US) to New York (US)

  25 April 2008 - Edinburgh to Inverurie.

Skills Strategy

John Park (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consult external organisations and key stakeholders in revising its skills strategy before taking it back to Parliament and, if so, which ones it will consult.

Fiona Hyslop: My officials maintain an ongoing dialogue with our stakeholders on all aspects of skills and this will continue to be the case. There are no plans for a specific consultation on this matter.

Skills Strategy

John Park (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is undertaking wider consultation with external organisations and key stakeholders to help revise its skills strategy and, if so, by what process.

Fiona Hyslop: My officials maintain an ongoing dialogue with our stakeholders and partners on all aspects of skills and this will continue to be the case. There are no plans for a specific consultation on this matter.

Traffic

Patrick Harvie (Glasgow) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive what the legal status is of the term traffic distributor road.

Stewart Stevenson: The term "traffic distributor road" has no legal status.